The New York Yankees still do not have a left-handed reliever on their 40-man roster, even though it is less than two weeks until spring training is supposed to begin in Tampa. The Yankees should have found this to be one of their easier offseason decisions.
The left-handed pitcher became an integral part of the Yankees’ back-of-the-park bullpen after helping Tim Hill regain his career last season. The Yankees ought to have re-signed the 34-year-old free agent by now.
“Mutual interest” exists between the Yankees and left-handed pitcher Tim Hill, according to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo.
Is there a holdup? This must be completed promptly by the Yankees. Trade rumors have also linked them to veteran left-handers Brooks Raley and Andrew Chafin.
Hill is the most rational choice.
Ragazzo also said that the Yankees are fighting for Hill with the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies, and the Los Angeles Angels.
Hill, who will be 35 in February, had a solid year with the Yankees after being dismissed by the White Sox previous season. After struggling in Chicago, with a 5.87 ERA over 23 innings, Hill meshed with Yankees’ pitching coach Matt Blake. He recorded a 2.05 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 44 innings in the regular season, earning Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s trust and appearances in high-leverage situations.
Hill gave just one earned run across 8.1 innings in the playoffs.
He fits well with Blake’s notion of creating weak, poor-quality connections. They modified his sinker and instructed Hill to use it more. The consequences were that last season, Hill was among the best in the majors at missing barrels (1.7%) and generating groundballs (68.1)%, according to Baseball Savant.
It was by far the best season of his career.
The Yankees have had great success strengthening their bullpen with reclamation efforts like Hill since they hired Blake in 2020. Now, they may be victims of that. Clearly, there is more interest in Hill because of his success last season, which could mean the Yankees have to spend more or lose out on Hill.
The Yankees need to reap the advantages of Blake’s work on Hill and get a deal done with him before pitchers and catchers report to Tampa.
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